Aereo Expanding to Atlanta in June, Revamps Pricing

Aereo is expanding into the Deep South. The company today announced that beginning June 17, Atlanta-area consumers who pre-registered with Aereo will receive a special invitation to join; general membership access begins June 24.

Aereo will be available to 5.3 million potential consumers in 55 counties across Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina. Atlanta will be the third Aereo city behind New York and Boston, where the service launches tomorrow.

"The response and enthusiasm from consumers across all of our expansion cities has been phenomenal," CEO Chet Kanojia said in a statement. "It's clear that consumers want more choice and flexibility in how they watch television and they don't want to be fenced into expensive, outdated technology. Aereo's antenna/DVR technology brings the old-fashioned antenna into the 21st Century."

The company, backed by IAC Chairman Barry Diller, manufacturers tiny HDTV antennas and stores its content on remote servers, providing access to NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, the CW, and other local channels. Users can record shows, and don't need to purchase or install any equipment. Viewers can pause, rewind, and fast-forward any live program, or save shows for later.

Aereo this week also announced a simplified price plan, which offers an $8 per month base plan for the cloud-based antenna/DVR tech and 20 hours of DVR storage. For an additional $4, users can upgrade to get 60 hours of DVR storage and the ability to record two shows at once for a total $12 per month.

New customers, meanwhile, will receive a month of free, full-featured functionality. Existing users will continue paying their current bill through the end of their membership plan period; $12-per-month members will automatically be upgraded to the full features.

Boston's service is expected to launch tomorrow with invites rolling out to those who pre-registered. It will be available to everyone in the Boston area, including more than 4.5 million consumers in 16 counties in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, by May 30.

The technology almost didn't make it to New England, though. In March 2012, a number of broadcasting companies and TV stations sued Aereo for copyright infringement, arguing that the service would cost them money; they also voiced concern about unfair competition and piracy.

Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012. She moved to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland. She interned at Baltimore magazine and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (in the town of Indiana, in the state of Pennsylvania) with a degree in journalism and mass communications.
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